A Salem Awakening

Chapter 41

Abigail stepped outside and saw a large gathering of townspeople. She nodded to the two men to unchain Tobias and bring him out, while Abigail ascended to the scaffold where, just one day earlier, Tobias directed those same two men to burn her mother alive. Most villagers made note of the irony, many of whom felt Tobias' impending death would close a grim chapter in their shared history.

The two men escorted Tobias from the Town Hall, past the scaffold, through the clearing in the wood and kindling, and finally onto the step at the base of the stake. They took a thick rope, placed Tobias' hands together behind his back, and bound him tightly to the stake. First, they wrapped the rope three times around his body, and around his chest. Finally, they tied the rope around his legs, all the way to his feet. The rope constrained Tobias, and he had virtually no wiggle room. The two men placed the wood on top of the open path they created as they backed away from the stake. Everything was ready.

Abigail was dreading the next part, and she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. She raised her hands to silence the crowd. "Tobias Warnock, you stand accused of treachery, lying and murder. The citizens of Salem provide you with one last chance to admit your guilt and accept our judgement, or you may continue with this Test of Purity where God himself will be your judge. How say you?"

"I proclaim my innocence, and only ask once my body has shown me to be an innocent man, the village should know those I condemned were truly guilty."

"Amazing," Abigail thought. "He's about to meet death and all he cares about is turning the table on those already exonerated. There truly is no bottom to this man's soul."

The townspeople booed in response to his plea.

Abigail responded to Tobias and to the entire crowd simultaneously. "You are in no position to make demands. You will begin your test." And with a perfect impression of Tobias himself, she continued, "May God have mercy on your soul."

With that, Abigail nodded to the two men who were standing on opposite sides of Tobias, lit torches in hand. In unison they lowered their torches and set the kindling ablaze.

Elizabeth Porter took longer than usual to get ready for the burning, so the Porters were a few minutes late. They arrived just as the flames spread through the woodpile. They moved as close as they could to the front, and then Joseph realized something terrible. "Oh no," he thought. "His hands – they are behind his back.... In contact with each other." But it was too late. The flames were already growing on their own accord. There was no way Joseph could stop the ceremony and separate Tobias' hands. The unbloods would not understand. Abigail's unfamiliarity with the Order gave Tobias an opening he somehow, inextricably, took advantage of. It was not her fault, Joseph understood this. She only knew of the Order for less than one day.

Abigail could not bear to watch someone burn alive, not even Tobias. Yet, she understood she could not turn away. Many in the crowd were now looking to her for moral strength and she could not portray any weakness. Instead of watching Tobias suffer, she gazed upon each in the crowd with a look of somber confidence. It was as if she was saying to each person, "I know this is difficult, but it's the right thing to do and our town will be better off for it." Each person responded with a look saying, "Thank you for being here for us."

Tobias could feel the heat on his feet. It was quickly becoming unbearable. But he needed to wait until the last possible second to make his jump. Once he did, Tobias' body would shrivel. If he jumped too early, it would appear Tobias' body was a limp balloon and the death would appear to be fake. If he waited too long, he would suffer great pain and potentially not be able to make the jump at all. Timing was the key to this endeavor, and it's the main teaching Junius' father, Mircea, passed down to him. "If Father and my cousins could do this, then certainly I can do this too. I just need to wait a bit longer. The flames from the burning wood pile need to reach the same height as my face." His flesh was flaming red and his face was contorting in five different directions as he attempted to deal with the excruciating pain.